Killed

Eight U.S. troops were killed today in multiple bombings in southern Afghanistan, the military said, making October the deadliest month for Americans of the eight-year war. The latest deaths bring the number of U.S. service members killed during the month to at least 53, according to the independent website icasualties.org. Today's deaths occurred in "multiple, complex" bombings in the south, the military said in a news release. No further details were provided. An Afghan civilian working with the International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, in Afghanistan was also killed, and several service members were injured in the incidents, the military said.

It was a street party at a popular gathering place, typical of Saturday nights in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. Drinks, a musical band, a joining together of the mostly young. Then, shortly before midnight, a white double-cabin pickup screeched to a stop on Palm Tree Street in the town of Navolato. At least four gunmen burst from the vehicle and sprayed the party with semiautomatic gunfire. Eight people were killed, among them women and teenagers. Several more were seriously wounded and remained hospitalized Sunday, said Jose Luis Leyva of the state prosecutor's office in Culiacan, the state capital about 20 miles to the east.

— In simultaneous bombings bearing the hallmarks of international terrorists, two explosions ripped through crowds watching the World Cup final in two places in Uganda's capital late Sunday, killing 64 people, police said. One American was slain and several were wounded. The deadliest attack occurred at a rugby club as people watched the game between Spain and the Netherlands on a large-screen TV outdoors. The second blast took place at an Ethiopian restaurant, where at least three Americans were wounded.

Michelle Suter-Unthank had never heard her son sound so poised, so mature. On a Friday evening in May, Marine Pfc. Jake Suter,18, called his mother and stepfather at their Stevenson Ranch home. For about six months, Suter had been stationed at the Marine Corps base at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. Two days later, he would be deployed to Afghanistan. That night, he spoke to his parents for 2 1/2 hours. "We had a work-up on the Afghani people, and they're really nice people, they're very respectful people," his mother quoted him as saying.

The lead investigator in the slaying in Mexico of El Monte educator Agustin Roberto "Bobby" Salcedo has been killed in an ambush, officials said today. It was not clear whether the death of investigator Manuel Acosta will have any effect on the case, in which little progress had been reported. Authorities would not speculate on whether Acosta's killing was related to Salcedo's. Hundreds of law enforcement officers and judicial officials have been slain in Mexico in recent years, often in an effort to thwart investigations and silence witnesses.

Three polling stations in Baghdad were struck by explosions that killed at least 14 people Thursday, an apparent attempt to sow fear before elections Sunday that Iraqis hope will stabilize their country after years of bloodshed. The attacks were launched as security forces and hospital patients cast the first ballots in the parliamentary elections that will choose the next four-year government. The bombings came a day after similar assaults in the northeastern city of Baqubah that killed more than 30 people.

Gunmen believed to be Maoist rebels killed at least 26 paramilitary personnel on Tuesday in a roadside ambush in the eastern Indian state of Chhattisgarh, authorities said. The gunfight, which lasted for about three hours, occurred about 3 p.m. in the state's heavily forested Bastar region as the 63-member Central Reserve Police Force patrol was returning from a "road-opening mission" in preparation for a threatened two-day rebel strike expected to start Wednesday. Maoist rebels, who control a large swath of Indian territory, often erect roadblocks in jungle areas they control, which the government tries to raze to reassert its authority.

A San Bernardino man was shot and killed by police after he attacked an officer and pointed a stun gun at him during a traffic stop, San Bernardino police said Tuesday. About 6:30 p.m. Monday, officers spotted a man running from their police car toward a vehicle parked in an alley on North Wall Avenue, Lt. David Harp said. Police approached the vehicle and asked the four occupants to step out. One of the men, identified as Cedric James May, 22, emerged from the back seat, tried to grab an officer's baton and gun, and finally got hold of the officer's Taser and pointed it at the officer's face, Harp said.

The blast from a roadside bomb ripped apart a bus filled with police officers and civilians in central India on Monday, killing at least 35 people, authorities said. The 4:15 p.m. bombing occurred in the Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh, a mineral-rich state that had been the site of fierce fighting between Maoist rebels and government forces in recent months. Police said the explosion killed at least 19 civilians and 16 police officers, though other sources placed the death toll as high as 50. The same area saw an attack last month that killed 76 police officers.

Gunmen armed with high-caliber weapons ambushed the top security official in Mexican President Felipe Calderon's home state early Saturday, wounding her and killing at least four other people. Minerva Bautista Gomez, public security minister for Michoacan state, had just left ceremonies in Morelia launching a state fair, which she attended with the governor and other high-ranking officials. Within a mile, her armored SUV and bodyguard escort came under fire from assailants who had blocked the highway with a disabled trailer, trapping the minister and her entourage.